Falconeye Review 24: Metroid Fusion
Alright, we've taken care of all the classic Metroid games except one, Metroid Fusion. And no, I will not be reviewing Metroid: Zero Mission yet. I'll save that one for another time. Plot This is the last installment plotwise and the most recent 2D Metroid game... minus Zero Mission. It takes place some time after Metroid: Other M. Samus and a few GF troopers are sent to SR388. Why? I don't know, it never says. She eventually comes across the X Parasites. These organisms have the ability to infect a host, replicate the host, and eventually track down and kill the original host. Unknowing to Samus, the parasite infects her and she then heads back to her ship. The parasite then renders her unconsious and she crashes into an asteroid. She awakens after being given a cure consisting of DNA from the baby metroid. As it turns out, metroids were actually created by the Chozo to keep the parasite population under control. After Samus wiped the metroids out in Return of Samus, they were able to rapidly reproduce, eventually taking over the planet. However, large amounts of her power suit were corrupted and had to be surgically removed, so what we're left with is the Fusion Suit. She is then sent to the BSL station in her new ship (who she names Adam because the computer reminds her of Adam Malkovitch from Metroid:Other M) to investigate an explosion. Upon arriving, she finds that the ship has been overtaken by X Parasites. Her computer informs her that the X Parasite that infected her has mimicked her power suit in full force (yep, the parasites can mimick technology), and this Samus Aran X (or SA-X for short) is walking freely around the ship. Along the way, Samus comes across... Ridley!!!?? No, it's just an X Parasite mimicking him but... then... the X Parasite had to have infected Ridley to mimick him, so he MUST be.... nahh. Samus eventually finds a restricted lab which contains a Metroid breeding program. The SA-X then comes in and destroys the lab along with itself with Samus barely escaping. Her computer then tells her that the GF plan to use the metroids and X parasites as bio-weapons, and that the SA-X can asexually reproduce and there are at least 10 SA-X' on the ship. It's here we find out that when GF troopers die, they're brains are used to run ships computers, and that Adam's was used in Samus' ship. Adam then orders Samus to destroy the ship. She sets it on a crash course to SR388, but she returns to find her ship gone. In it's place is an Omega Metroid, which is a lot bigger and stronger than they were in Return of Samus. An SA-X then comes and tries to kill the Omega Metroid, but it is quickly killed. Samus then absorbs the SA-X' core and get's her ice beam back (the metroid DNA made it unsafe for her to carry it) and quickly lays waste to the Omega Metroid... which is odd becuase in Return of Samus, the Ice Beam did next to nothing to the Omega Metroid, now it's their only weakness. Her ship then returns and she escapes before the ship crashes, blowing up SR388 with it. So... I guess in the next Metroid game Samus is going to be some outlaw that the GF is trying to capture for dissobeying orders. Gameplay Well... it's a mix between linear and non-linear. Adam will always tell you where to go, but he doesn't tell you how to get there. Power ups are no longer found, but downloaded or obtained when defeating a boss. Other than that, it's the same as every other 2D Metroid game. Oddly, there aren't any new abilities in this game. Good Aspects The graphics in this game are pretty good, especially for the GBA. The music and sound affects are also pretty good. The controls are also nice. Bad Aspects The only thing I don't like about this game is that your beams automatically stack up, I like being able to choose which ones to have active and not have. But that's pretty minor, so don't ignore the game because of it. Conclusion This game, overall is pretty good. If you're looking into the Metroid series, start with Zero Mission, then Super Metroid, then this one, then Prime. You probably could start with this one, but I would reccomend you start with Zero Mission. I'll give this one a 7.25/10 with the title of GREAT!!!!! Next Time, on Falconeye Reviews... I'll be stepping out of my Classic game reviews and starting my regular reviews again with Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga for the Wii.